@Will posted:Thanks, Bryce for the update. It's understandable why NJ balks, since they would get nothing from a route from PA to NY. That's why the Federal Government needs to be involved. I little thing called interstate transport. They could put a station in Blairstown again, but that is a sprinkling of people. ( I used to live there)
The problem with the stations west of Dover is lack of service as you said. (Not to mention an interminable trip), but I will have to check them out again. Either way, I still have to get in a car and drive a distance to a station, so the extra few miles to Dover is no big deal.
Now if Manhattan implements congestion pricing for mid-town access, that could shake things up.
Now this is a small world. Where did you live in Blairstown? That is my neck of the woods, I went to North Warren for high school.
NJT is planning to re-open Blairstown Station in Phase II with ~250 parking spaces to cut down on I-80 congestion. A lot of locals are not too happy about this since Blairstown will become a commuter station. I frankly don't mind since the station is on Hope Rd. and not directly on Route 94. The influx of commuters will also help local businesses which is a great thing. However, easy access to major cities means more people will move out here. Many are worried that Race Farm will sell some of their land to developers for condos/apartments once the line is complete, I am one of these people with that concern. I'm okay with commuters who drive here and go home at the end of the day but, I draw the line at major development. I'd be happier with the cut-off being used for freight but people around here go nuts when I bring it up.... The toxic freight myth rears its ugly head.
If the feds and Amtrak gets involved with the cut-off restoration, a lot of questions come into my head:
- As I said previously, who will foot the bill for Phase II? NJ, PA, or the feds?
- Will PA fund Phase III in upgrading the line? Will the feds help too?
- Will Amtrak run trains? If yes, what trains will Amtrak run? Local or express trains?
- Who has priority on the line? Amtrak or NJT?
- Will the Delaware-Lackawanna allow for passenger use on their line? (VERY important)
- On the Delaware-Lackawanna section of the line, who will have priority? Passenger or freight?
- Is running Amtrak and NJT at the same time, on the same line, economically feasible?
- Will NJT allow the Delaware-Lackawanna to run freight trains on the cut-off during off-hours?
Assuming Amtrak does have a train on the new cut-off, I would love if they named the Scranton to NYC run as the "The Pocono" as an homage to the region and the former DL&W train, "The Pocono Express."
As you know, NJT is doing it on the cheap and not electrifying the line, my guess is that Amtrak will most likely use their new Charger locos. It'd also be really cool if Amtrak made a few trainsets with their new Siemens Venture cars.
Anything after Dover is "Limited Service" per NJT's website.
A few things as food for thought:
- If this project is ever completed and connects Manhattan to Scranton, I predict that trains will be more frequent at these limited service stations (Mt. Arlington, Lake Hopatcong, Netcong, Mt. Olive & Hackettstown)
- Assuming Manhattan implements congestion pricing for mid-town access, trains will become much more popular with commuters.
- NY Penn Station and the North River Tunnels... The tunnels need to be repaired and upgraded. Penn Station needs to be rebuilt or made much more efficient (especially if the congestion pricing happens). I am a big fan of combining Rebuild Penn Station's and ReThinkNYC's plans (rebuild the old PRR station and make it a through-running station). The issue then becomes, who will pay for this? NYC, NY State, the Feds? All three?
Bryce
